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Ombudsman: All at Sea

A documentation snafu leaves a passenger in rough waters on her sailing to Hawaii

The night before my Hawaiian cruise on the Celebrity Summit was to set sail, I decided to leave my passport at home since the ship was going from Los Angeles to Hawaii and then back to Los Angeles. When I arrived at the cruise terminal the next day, I was told that I could not board the ship without at least a faxed copy of my passport photo page. After a number of frantic phone calls, I was able to reach a neighbor and to get an emergency locksmith to open my door. The neighbor faxed me the passport page just five minutes before departure.

Once I was on the ship, an argument broke out among the crewsomeone in the purser's office didn't want to allow me on board because I was born overseas and am a naturalized U.S. citizen. In the end, I was forced to sign an affidavit stating that I am an American citizen and that my passport would be delivered by courier to the Los Angeles Port Authority. If my passport didn't reach Los Angeles before the ship docked in Kona, I would be disembarked in Hawaii. Before signing the affidavit, I remarked that there was no address on it to send the passport to, but the purser said that she would give me that the next day. She never did. When I got off the ship in Hawaii, I gave the immigration officer my driver's license and the faxed copy of the passport. He told me that I didn't need a passport to enter Hawaii and that I should never present a copy of a U.S. passport at immigration because it is an illegal document. The rest of the cruise passed without incident.

Not only did I endure a nerve-racking departure but I was out $580 for the locksmith. Additionally, when I got home, I found that the locksmith had ruined my door, which cost me another $520. I wrote to Celebrity detailing all the expenses, but nobody has written back. Can you help?

Christiane Fiardo

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA

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We wondered why Celebrity had insisted that Fiardo procure documentation that she felt was not required. So we wrote to the cruise line for an explanation. We heard back quickly and for almost a year traded e-mails and phone calls with Celebrity's communications department. Apparently, before Fiardo approached Ombudsman, she had contacted Celebrity's loyalty program, which sent her an e-mail asking for more information on her sailing and also providing the phone number for its customer service department. According to the cruise line's records, Fiardo did not pursue either avenue (it is possible that the Celebrity e-mail was blocked by a spam filter).

In the end, though, it became evident that Fiardo had indeed presented incomplete documentation at the time of embarkation in Los Angeles. Because the ship, per its published itinerary, made a stop in Mexicosomething Fiardo hadn't mentioned in her letter to Ombudsmanshe needed papers that proved her nationality in the event she decided to disembark at the Mexican port. Her California driver's license was not sufficient but, coupled with her naturalization certificate, would have been adequate. Of course a passport would also have sufficed. Nevertheless, Celebrity reviewed Fiardo's case and, as a gesture of goodwill, offered her a $1,100 refund and a $500 credit toward a future cruise. Ombudsman commends Celebrity's actions.

Travelers should never make assumptions about documentation. Always study the itinerary carefully to see exactly where you are going, and then contact the applicable embassies or consulates to confirm the documentation needed. As of June 1, 2009, it is more critical than ever for cruisers to have their paperwork in order. On that date, the Department of Homeland Security rolled out tighter guidelines for American and Canadian travelers entering the United States (for the exact rules, see getyouhome.gov). U.S. and Canadian citizens coming into the country by sea must now present a passport, a passport card, certain types of fast pass card, or an enhanced driver's license. A standard driver's license together with a birth certificate is no longer sufficient. Documents must be originalscopies are not permissible. But the U.S. passport of a naturalized citizen gives the holder exactly the same rights as the holder of a U.S. passport gained through birth or ancestry. Period.